Academic development projects are often carried out in the sequence Design ‚Äď Build ‚Äď Test (DBT); resembling the prevalent industrial development process. In this; an early decision is made on which solution to the problem at hand should be developed; after which a prototype is built and tested while attempting to fulfil the market requirements. One of several drawbacks associated with this approach is its premature selection of the best alternative among several unfinished designs. In recent years; an alternative development method has attracted positive attention. This ‚ÄúLean Product Development‚ÄĚ (LPD) philosophy implies that careful attention should be given to the earlier stages of the development process; in order to gain sufficient knowledge to solve the problem. To align academic design project with the LPD philosophy; we propose a shift in design-build experiences from the Design ‚Äď Build ‚Äď Test of today to the Test ‚Äď Design ‚Äď Build (TDB). This proposal also makes design-build experiences applicable to engineering disciplines where size and cost of prototypes have previously been obstacles to implementation; such as architecture and civil engineering.